A Pebble of Praise – The Power of Recommendations

I recently received a very unexpected recommendation from my colleague, Sharlyn Lauby on the professional networking site, LinkedIn. I urge you to check out her blog at hrbartender.com, for some of the most insightful, informative and well-executed thoughts that exist in the blogosphere.

Now, while I have been fortunate to enjoy a certain measure of accolades and praise in my professional career and been truly humbled by it, I very rarely stop to pay much attention to the recognition, if any at all. I do what I do because it’s what I want to do and how I need to do it. That means I treat my work, colleagues and deadlines with the respect they deserve, which often results [hopefully] in valuable output. Having said that, Sharlyn’s recommendation made me STOP. I appreciated her feedback, more so than any amount of praise and even more than other recommendations I’ve received, because I admire how she operates and the high level of quality which is part of everything she does. In that sense, her words about me forced me to recognize the level of quality and standards in my own work that I had failed to notice or appreciate myself.

So, whether you are in a professional setting or simply among friends, do not overlook the power of sincere praise and recognition. We all need it, whether we know it or not. And, particularly if you are a person whom your friends and associates like and respect, your acknowledgment of their contributions will be worth something to them – worth quite a bit, in fact.

Furthermore, the act of praise often has a domino effect: if you praise or recognize another, they will not only take greater pride in what they do, therefore enhancing their future output and contributions; but they will also be more likely to praise and recognize someone else.

If you simply stop and take the time to acknowledge someone who has made a difference, that small pebble of praise will have a ripple effect through infinite numbers of lives and levels of output.

If a pebble hitting the water in one location will affect the water on a much greater scale than one can comprehend, just imagine what your words of praise could do to the universe….

Wishing You Success,
Natalya

*Image courtesy of zaksiddons